|
 Mrs Marilyn Cook of West Lakes Shore Schools
received her nomination while teaching at Plympton Primary School. The parents who
nominated her, speak of her rapport with the children of her class : "she always has
children crowding around her, telling about their news and enjoying her genuine
attention." She says of her own teaching style that "integrating areas of the
curriculum makes topics more meaningful and caters for children's different learning
styles and capacities."
 |
Mr Dirk Benson of St.Paul's School,
Nightcliff,
Darwin received similar priase from parents of his former Year 4/5 class. they speak of
his ability to engender dramatic improvements with children previously disinterested in
reading and maths. Dirk speaks of creating "an environment that is stimulating,
caring, fun and secure for the children." He achieves this not only by his teaching
but also by his willingness to support students in their sporting activities, and helping
them outside of school in social events, and to overcome problems such as bullying
behaviours. By improving the self-esteem of his students, Dirk really works to change
their lives to more productive opportunities.
|
Ms Margaret Donald of Stirling East Primary
School is described by her nominators as a person who "exhibits a passion for helping
children learn, not only academically, but through her ability to bring out and develop
children's caring and nurturing of each other." She is the 'Cornerstones' officer for
Adelaide Hills schools and has established an 'Intervention Program' at the school,
supported by staff and trained volunteer parents which caters for children who need extra
help with language development.
|
Mrs Elizabeth Hope, one of two teachers
from Urrabrae Agricultural College to receive awards, is described by her nominators as
someone who "motivates, energises, enthuses and enables her students." She
worked with a group of Year 8 students on their entry in a National Science Contest,
'Murder under the Microscope', and they won the Secondary Schools section. Under her
guidance the Model Solar Car Club was established and their entry won the State titles in
1997. Due to her efforts and direction, a student-managed Marsupial Sanctuary was
established at the school. The Maths Co-Ordinator of Urrbrae, Mr Chris Barber also
received an award for his work both with students and their parents to develop
understanding of maths.
|
Miss Elsabe Bott of St.John's
College, Darwin received support for her work as a Special education and ESL teacher. One
of the students nominating her wrote, "Miss Bott has taught me to hold my head up and
to be proud of who I am as a Torres Strait Islander. She and my Mum have taught me how
important it is to get a good education in life."
Other award recipient teachers received praise not only for
their contributions to individual students but for their efforts on behalf of wider
communities and the teaching profession.
Exemplifying this, Ms Jillian Anderson of Scotch College Junior School was praised not
only for her "intuitive understanding of each child's needs" but also for her
development of a students' web-site and teachers' resource package on CD Rom entitled
"Florey and the Miracle Mould."
Mrs Lyn Kupke of Booleroo Centre High School, some 40 kms
north-east of port Pirie was influential in having her school chosen as a Statewide Focus
School in Mathematics. Some of her innovative practices have included teaching Maths and
Physics using distance delivery across schools , an interschool Maths Quiz night,
participation in a Statewide Maths project and extra-curriculum development of seminar
materials, tutorials and home visits. Booleroo forms part of a cluster of five secondary
schools committed to delivering a diverse range of SA Certificate of education courses to
senior students in remote areas.
Mrs Felicity Hancock of Clyde Fenton Primary school, Katherine
has initiated a Children's writers Club, organised poetry and short story competitions
which have resulted in numbers of published anthologies and regional and national literary
awards for Katherine students from 23 schools in the Region.
The SA/NT Regional Awards were presented on the Foundation's
behalf by the South Australian Minister for Education, the Hon. malcolm
Buckby, MP. The
ceremony was attended by several distinguished guests including the Chief Executive of the
Department of Education, Training and Employment, Mr. Denis Ralph and the Director of
Catholic Education, Mr Alan Dooley.
|
